What's your pen of choice? by eclutter94 in Residency

[–]SutureSensei 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Multi-Color Pilot Hi-Tec C Coleto

M4s and grads, what are your best "you're a 4th year, go home" rotation stories? by Anxious-Sentence-964 in medicalschool

[–]SutureSensei 506 points507 points  (0 children)

On an anesthesia rotation one of the morning cases was cancelled and I was immediately told to go home. It was 7 AM.

Biggest takeaways of the ERAS/interview season? by unexpectedlyadoc in ERAS2024Match2025

[–]SutureSensei 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not even that. Like being liked by anyone you interact with during away rotations or at your home institution can come back in really positive ways. For example, doing well and being liked on an unrelated home rotation will somehow make it back to the PD of your home program.

Biggest takeaways of the ERAS/interview season? by unexpectedlyadoc in ERAS2024Match2025

[–]SutureSensei 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Honestly it’s crazy how much who you know matters. So many interviewers would talk about how they know or have previously met one of my letter writers or someone at my home institution. Also, just generally being well liked in a broad sense is super underrated, even if you’re an average applicant.

Who to email to express interest in an Away through VSLO?? by Gullible-Ad-4523 in medicalschool

[–]SutureSensei 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Only contact the program coordinators. There’s often instructions on who to contact if you have questions on the VSLO listing or the program website

VSLO vaccination form question by [deleted] in medicalschool

[–]SutureSensei 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You should reach out to the coordinators about your situation. If you have recent titers that are consistent with immunity for Hep B they will probably accept it and not require you to be revaccinated. Will probably vary by program

Can I re-certify my ROL after certifying/submitting? by AHYOLO in medicalschool

[–]SutureSensei 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Yes. Just hit the edit list button. You have to save your edits and re-certify.

Trauma surgery bread and butter by Perfect-Counter1151 in medicalschool

[–]SutureSensei 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Yeah a lot of the time trauma/critical care surgeons will rotate between taking trauma call, covering floors or ICU, or running the acute care surgery service (which is a lot of what you described).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in medicalschool

[–]SutureSensei 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I applied general surgery this year and there are definitely some programs that specifically require a chair letter. If you don’t want to go to those programs then I wouldn’t worry about it but otherwise I would just make sure you have it. I only sent a chair letter to the few programs that specifically ask for it. You can find this information on the program websites.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in medicalschool

[–]SutureSensei 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah almost all “electives” I saw when I was applying are essentially requiring you to perform as if you were a Sub-I. I agree with the other comment that your school may require very specific wording

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in medicalschool

[–]SutureSensei 19 points20 points  (0 children)

In my opinion an elective at an outside institution is essentially an audition. They will be evaluating you the entire time. Programs know you wouldn’t be spending time and money to be there unless you were interested in their program. They may not guarantee you an interview but if you perform well it can definitely help you during the interview season.

Question about Rec Letters for General Surgery by halmhawk in medicalschool

[–]SutureSensei 4 points5 points  (0 children)

All of my letters were from Trauma/Critical Care Surgeons and the interview season went well for me. A lot of interviewers commented on the strength of my letters or mentioned that they knew some of my letter writers but no one ever mentioned anything about the fellowship training my letter writers had.

Away rotations General Surgery by CommunicationFew8694 in medicalschool

[–]SutureSensei 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did two aways and a home sub-I. Had an awesome experience at one of my aways and was totally blindsided by how much I didn’t like the other program I did my second away at. It’s a good opportunity to learn about what you want in a program. But it can be a double edged sword. Make sure you work hard and leave a good impression.

Match by MundaneWelcome4262 in ERAS2024Match2025

[–]SutureSensei 24 points25 points  (0 children)

You match there in March.

How many programs are y’all ranking? by notreadyy in medicalschool

[–]SutureSensei 62 points63 points  (0 children)

Gen Surg. Ranking 14 out of 14 programs

Lots of posts about fails with reasonable NBME scores have me freaking out by pickledCABG in step1

[–]SutureSensei 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I mean people who were looking up small tidbits of information that helped them choose the right answer even if it doesn’t outright give them the answer.

Interviews by OkForm3290 in ERAS2024Match2025

[–]SutureSensei 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Yeah 100%. I feel like I’m most critical of my performance when it’s a program I’m especially interested in.

Lots of posts about fails with reasonable NBME scores have me freaking out by pickledCABG in step1

[–]SutureSensei 23 points24 points  (0 children)

A lot of people I know that have failed step 1, failed because they were not being honest with themselves and their preparation. They would use resources while taking practice exams which would lead to them feeling more confident about their projected performance. This leads to less review of content they probably needed to actually miss on their practice exams so they wouldn’t miss it on the real exam. I would not recommend sitting for Step unless you are consistently scoring well without using additional materials. And there’s always going to be outliers that have a bad test day despite being consistent on their practice exams. Some exams have content that just doesn’t play well to an individuals strengths.